E-Malt.com News article: USA, WI: Stevens Point Brewery plans fifth expansion

Stevens Point Brewery is headed into the new year with plans to expand both its brewery and its line of beers, and managers plan to continue growing for as long as demand stays strong. The brewery had a record year in 2013, which led to plans for a $1.5 million expansion, its fifth since 2009, Green Bay Press Gazette reported on December 23.

The most recent expansion, completed earlier this year, cost $2 million and included the addition of a second brew kettle, a new automated grain-handling system and 16 more fermentation tanks, also called “unitanks” because they are able to both ferment and age beer. As a result, the brewery’s annual capacity increased 25 percent, to more than 150,000 barrels.

The new expansion includes the purchase of three more unitanks, 1,000 new kegs, and upgrades to the brewery’s bottle-filler and electrical and cooling systems. Joe Martino, the brewery’s operating partner, said that as a result of this expansion, eight new jobs will be added in brewing, packaging, administration and sales in 2014. The brewery currently has 38 employees.

Martino, who purchased the brewery in 2002 with Jim Wiechmann, said 2013 revenues were the strongest ever, though he declined to give specifics. Shipments from the brewery, which produces beer, hard cider and gourmet soda, also increased by 20 percent in 2013 as compared to the previous year. Martino said he expects similar growth in 2014 and hopes to increase annual brewing capacity to 225,000 barrels within the next couple of years.

Microbreweries such as the Stevens Point Brewery have experienced an explosion in popularity across the United States in recent years. According to a report from the Business Insider, 13 million barrels of craft beer were produced in 2012, a 71 percent increase from 2006, and spending on craft beers will climb to $3.9 billion by the end of 2013. More than 400 microbreweries were started in 2012, giving the United States about 2,400, with 1,500 more now in the planning stages.

Julie Birrenkott, director of marketing for the brewery, said the new kegs will arrive some time in February, and the new unitanks will arrive in late March. Birrenkott said the purchase of the new kegs was important to keep up with demand during the summer months for products such as Nude Beach Summer Wheat beer and Ciderboys, a line of hard ciders the brewery introduced in late 2012 that now is sold in about 20 states. She also said the brewery recently purchased a 25,000-square-foot warehouse on Industrial Park Drive in Stevens Point to help with its increased production this year.

Birrenkott said the brewery also plans to unveil a new year-round style of beer, new offerings from its Ciderboys and Whole Hog lineups, and new packaging for some of its beers in 2014.

“There’s a lot excitement when you see the kind of growth we have experienced and are able to continue to look at new ways to grow,” Birrenkott said.


27 December, 2013